88 comments

  • Deep South Bama with Mr. Tom

    Princess you forgot Fermenting! Oh and I forgot Salt cured meats too. Love the video .

    • 27maytag

      Mr Tom and pp. After cleaning up one side of the pole barn tonight, I took a ride on my kawasaki mule and seen over 50 deer. I really, really need to learn to smoke and cure meat

    • Mmbohn1

      I thought she would meant smoking since I don’t know anything about it….

    • Nomadic Prepper

      And freeze drying

    • Carmen Wheatley

      A tip, use the type of salt the recipe calls for. Ideally it should be curing salt which is pink. Curing/preserving meat is a learning curve . Because of the risk of food poisoning, you should also smoke or dehydrate the meat after curing.

  • Sj Smith

    The one thing i hardly hear anyone mention is dried fruit. Id keep 2 lbs per person. Whether it be raisins, banana chips, apricots, or??? You can improve oatmeal, make trail mix, or even cooked into a jam in a pinch too. It does store longest in the freezer, but it keeps 6 to 12 months in the pantry.

    • Private Private

      Sj Smith BTW, the freeze dried strawberries, I bought at the Dollar Tree. There’s not much in each package, but it’s only for me and I don’t have to dehydrate strawberries then.

    • Deanne Albrecht

      @Sj Smith Tons on Pinterest, but my favorites are the “Aussie bites” So, good. 8 oz apricots, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and oats. pulsed together with 1tbsp coconut oil and 2Tbls honey or maple syrup, put in 8×8 pan, cool, cut, eat. 😉

    • Sj Smith

      @Private Private I find these things are better purchased. I can’t afford a fancy dehydrator or freeze drying machine either.

    • Private Private

      Sj Smith yeah, I only have the Breville Oven Air, because my oven died and I was able to get more dry baskets cheap. Otherwise, there’d be no dehydrating going on here.

      Where a freeze drier is concerned – is it a car or a freeze drier I should buy?😂

    • Cyndi Rothrock

      Chop up and put into PANCAKE! 😋!

  • midtennprepper

    Just a tip on the freezer. If going out of town put a bowl of water in the freezer and place a coin on top of it sinks then freezer thawed and re froze

  • red9man2130

    I,am a STRONG advocate of buying Mason Jars and using them to store Rice and Beans!

    • Dannie McDonald

      @Serenity R. FYI, Ball no longer has a site that sells products. The name changed to freshpreserving.com Also, Newell, the home company of Ball, Kerr and Bernadini, will not be producing canning supplies until March, 2021.So, unless stores have supplies in their warehouses, they will not be available.

    • Dannie McDonald

      @happygardener28 Suttons Daze did a video on the fake sites.

    • happygardener28

      @Dannie McDonald yes I know.

    • Dana Michigan

      I save my pickle jars, jam jars, spaghetti sauce jars….basically ALL of the jars! lol! It may not be ‘Pinterest’ pretty – but they do the job and save $$$!

    • happygardener28

      @Dana Michigan 👍 They don’t recommend canning with them as some aren’t strong enough, but they are excellent for so many other uses.

  • Don't Panic

    Just a quick tip for buying canned meats (Beef, Chicken, Fish). When you’re ready to purchase them, be aware of what country it comes from. I try to only buy the products that come from the U.S.A, Canada or reputable European countries. This is NOT a racist thing, but it is a safety concern. Some countries (China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, etc) have much lower standards than the U.S. or Canada. Some countries that farm chickens or fish do so in such poor conditions, and the packing process is just as bad in those countries.

    Just as an example, StarKist tuna is an American company. Yet they use tuna that was raised and packaged in countries like Vietnam or Korea. Always look for the fine print on the package, It will usually say “product of” (so and so country)

    This is a good rule of thumb for any product you buy in the grocery store. (Canned fruits and vegetables).

    • Steve Slade

      @Don’t Panic Farm raised bluefin, a top of food chain carnivore, isnt going into Star Kist cans for .99 cents. They are sold by the kilo to pricey Tokyo sushi restaurants who need a consistent supply.
      Lot of difference in expense of farm rearing a carnivore like salmon or tuna and then trying to make a profit by canning it.
      Those farm raised ones are for fresh consumption or flash frozen.

    • Deekoy1958

      I’m in Australia.
      We have to watch out for food that comes from New Zealand. ( Often touted as a clean natural place.)
      China sends a lot of food to NZ to be repackaged and exported as NZ produce.

    • Don't Panic

      @Steve Slade
      Canned Tuna Controversy:
      https://youtu.be/6QHk08xCqbA

      Steve – Your response to my original post was: “Tuna is NOT farm raised”. I linked a video to show you that there are companies that farm raise their tuna. Farm raised tuna is relatively new, but there are a few tuna farms out there.

      My point wasn’t to dispute whether tuna was farm raised or caught in the wild, The point I was making is that there are countries out there with far less regulations than the US and Canada. As Tina C also stated in this thread, many times it’s the processing plant that’s filthy, which then contaminates the food. Some countries don’t even have ANY regulations.

    • Steve Slade

      @Don’t Panic filthy processing plants????
      I suggest you look more closely at US plants where poultry and processed meat products are made.
      Campylobacter, salmonella, E. coli, and listeria cause millions of food poisionings every year in US. Ranging from mild digestive “distress” to death.

      For years I’ve eaten canned/bottled foods from India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Japan, most of Europe, Turkey, Morocco etc etc. I can’t recall a single ‘bad incident’.
      But the hamburger basket from a mid sized restaurant chain in my city knocked me out for days. Thank God it happened pre-Covid & toilet paper wasn’t sold out

      “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”

    • Rose Work

      And if you have a food allergy, make sure you read the label carefully.

  • ttboy2004

    I recommend Lentils instead of beans as it less time to cook and better nutritious wise

    • Mawmaw Sue

      @Narciso Duran Wow I’m so impressed with you, I to have a son that I dearly love and he’s a fine man, who used to help me make and cook in the kitchen far more than my daughter did. He’s married now with a wife and a daughter of his own, plus he married a woman who already had three children from her first marriage. We don’t see them much as he’s an over the road truck driver and stays gone up to three weeks at a time delivering groceries to the stores to keep the shelves stocked. He was home this past weekend but called us instead of coming to see us, he said he was sick and running a fever so he wasn’t taking any chance of getting us sick. We video chat a lot these days with our grandchildren and worry for their future. So I’ll stand corrected and say you’re a good devoted son to your parents and they are so lucky to have you. Stay safe and be blessed.

    • Narciso Duran

      @Mawmaw Sue And I’m having fun at this age too! Blessings.

    • Sj Smith

      @Mawmaw Sue If I had more canning lids, I’d be canning beans now too. If things got bad, it would take less energy to heat up cooked food. Now, the resources to cook are available. But, no lids… no canning things I consider to be cheap food.

    • Cyndi Rothrock

      Lentil and black eye peas are favorite for breakfast. Add carrot and onions!

    • Narciso Duran

      @Cyndi Rothrock Delicious!

  • Clayton Hufford

    Most canned meats – not fish – will last at least 3 to 5 years. Best canned fruit for storage is peaches.

  • TheBald1

    People talk about bartering foods, I’m a little bit leery about doing that.. Even to your best friend could be a bad thing if they’re hungry..

  • Garden Bee Aunt TK

    You can’t have enough dried onions and garlic, herbs and spices. They are great for making rice, pasta, soups and beans extra tasty,

  • LA moon

    When I was a young parent (years ago), I didn’t allow my children to go and get a box of crackers or a bag of chips. Before that stuff ever hit the shelf, it was divided up into servings (via sandwich or snack bags) and placed in a larger jar (like a cookie or snack jar). Chores were traded for snacks. My son and daughter now 37 & 30, slim, strong and not the least bit over weight. Even though I don’t do this now, they’ll open a bag or box, select a serving and close it up and return it. Unwittingly, I’d also taught them, to save for others and for later. This saves money, health and overweight issues later. I highly recommend teaching children this way, since it gives them a real understanding of what a serving size is and the concept that there is someone else besides themselves to consider.

    • LA moon

      @Sirena Spades That must have been very frightening for you. My kids were allowed to ask for extras. There weren’t always some available, just as now there aren’t always. Food is always a very emotional subject, and I think scarcity or the like is a frightening subject for most of us. Btw, I nearly starved (no exageration) when I was a small child because there wasn’t any help for my mother. Hence the portioning out…I wanted to make sure there was enough for all my family.

    • Barefoot Pony

      That is a wonderful mentality! I am going to implement this in my household!

    • Polaris Nebro

      Children are completely plastic (mouldable) at an early age. If you put in the time and effort to make them into law abiding, self controlled humans, they surely will turn out to be so.
      It isn’t their fault if they turn out to be brats. that’s mainly your irresponsibility.

    • Bea Creates

      Not saying this isn’t a good idea, however, my mom did the same thing and when I went off to college and I finally had the freedom to eat whatever I wanted I went waaayyy overboard and gained a lot of weight (that im still trying to get off). Again not hating on your teaching methods, just um it didn’t work out well for me. I think the problem is when you place a novelty on certain foods it almost puts them on a pedestal. Whereas now, I’ve removed the novelty from it and to be honest id much rather have a proper meal than a cookie. But had my mom not placed as much of a novelty on the cookies/snacks/junk food, I don’t think I would have gained as much weight.

    • Kellie

      @Bea Creates the same happened to me I got a job in college away from my family and went crazy I ate everything they wouldn’t let me have.

  • S T

    Just a heads up! Not sure if you know this but if you feed your dog peanut butter make sure it doesn’t have the ingredient called xylitol. It can be harmful to him. I don’t want to see anything happen to your boy 💙

    • Mawmaw Sue

      We feed our dog rice and pinto beans when he’s out of dog food, he loves them and will eat every bite, he even likes his vegetables like carrots, peas and green beans in his rice and beans. He’s a good dog.

    • Rose Jacobs

      Wow I didn’t know people put xylitol in peanut butter! Gross! The peanut butter I get just has peanuts in it. But this is great advice!

    • Ann Raybon

      not good for people either.. anything with a ‘fake sugar’ in it gives me headaches. that cannot be good for anyone!!

    • N. B.

      @Mawmaw Sue Ohhh how nice , I admire You like Miss Prepper Princess and myself that we Love our babies I have raised my pet baby with our food because we don’t trust the dog food…companies, that sometimes they mess around with the dog foods.. everytime we hear that’ there is a recall on the dog food because it has been contanminated from this and that…we are so afraid that dog foods out there could kill him, of course we make sure we feed him with food that will not harm him, but he has a little of our meat or chicken servings. He loves brown and white rice we limit him from the white rice, and he loves beans and veggies, he also takes a small milk bone or a piece of an aplple for a snack once a day… mainly after dinner when he is watching TV with us. Thank God that he has lived a healthy life he is 13 years young going on 14 and he is a dark brown long hair Pekinges named Chubaca, He is our pet son, that we love so dearly and as we are prepping we think about doing this for him too.You take care…and god bless You, your family and your pet baby ; )

    • Gail Borden

      @ST…..yes great point !!

  • Rachel Knight

    I hide some junk food/ snack preps from the husband in my old tampon boxes.

  • axelbrode

    Just an FYI. Last month I decided to make a couple of packages of Ramen noodles for dinner for the wife and I. I saw that they were 2 years past the best buy date and thought what the heck. My wife walked into the kitchen and immediately said “Those smell old”. I said “They are, I can toss these, I have some newer ones”. No, let’s eat these. Of course we lived to tell the story, but every time I burped for the rest of the day Old Ramen is all I could taste. I know there is a moral to this story, I just don’t know what it is. Ooh, Respect the Best Buy date on Ramen noodles, you’ve been warned.

    • Timmy

      Tell your wife thanks for taking one for the team. And you as well.

    • Narciso Duran

      Very true. Ramen tends to spoil more easily.

    • shelleyotube

      Unless a lot of new preppers on Youtube eat ramen regularly already, a lot of them currently buying cases of ramen for emergencies will be pitching the rancid noodles in a couple of years, which is such a waste of money and space. There’s so much oil in the noodles they don’t have a really long shelf life compared to dry pasta or canned food (which last YEARS beyond the best buy date).

    • Narciso Duran

      @shelleyotube Good reminder post.

  • Tina Mudong

    I am slightly nervous about this fall. Hoping it’s not as bad as it sounds like it could be.

    • Jessica Villarreal

      I’m glad I’m not the only one worried, things feel like they might get crazy due to elections and covid.

    • Margie Nieuwkerk

      @Jessica Villarreal me too, I have never seen things this wild and crazy. I am 70 years old, my mum is 92, Mum lives in USA, I live in Bulgaria, we talk every day on skype and we have never seen things as outrageous and unimaginable as today! We laugh and say we are glad we are old!

    • CM Sag

      I hope it will go well, but it will not. Too much control at risk. We plan on staying home, with all of our “stuff”, and riding the riots out, because there will be riots Hope I am wrong, again, but, I am stocking up on everything, gas, food, water, med preps. If trump wins, there will be a national meltdown. Do not care who you vote for, your right, but if the orange bad man wins, the country will go knuckin futz.. Prepare now. Get you water, food, batteries, etc. Pray to God I am wrong, but the ruling class will do whatever it takes to maintain their power. Read history, before it is erased. God help us.

    • Narciso Duran

      It likely will be. However, I like being well stocked, regardless. Why drive on bad roads during bad weather to go shopping and stand in line during flu and holiday season? And this year, add Covid, election anger, riot threats. Why take extra risks? Even without a SHTF scenario, it’s nice to spend winter without rushing about. Summer prepping means no winter schlepping.

  • Steven D

    I have eaten peanut butter up to 5 years past expiration date, no problems, taste very fresh.

  • John D

    I have 200 lbs of rice and 100 lbs of pasta . About 20 .;bs of SPAM, yes SPAM . Last for ever and high in calories. And lots of spices add flavor. Did not cost much to buy beause I bought a little each month. . You don;t have to break the bank to be prepared.

  • Mawmaw Sue

    Everything that is happening has happened since the beginning of time. Only one big difference MASS MEDIA. Average People used to never travel further than a ten mile radius from where they were born. International travel wasn’t common only the very rich could afford to take months on a ship vacation. My grandmother had never ridden in a car until she was nearly 80 years old. I’m now headed into my 70s so you gotta think she was born in the late 1800s Also we didn’t always keep records of weather or world events. I myself grew up in a house without electricity, running water or indoor plumbing. We heated and cooked with wood. We drew our water from a well that was hand dug right out of the back door. And we had an out house down the hill from our house. We raised chickens and hogs along with a root cellar and a smoke house and grew a vegetable & herb garden. We hunted deer, elk and moose, squirrels and rabbits. We went fishing. So no phones, no radios, no TV and I still remember my mother sewing by hand, shirts and dresses from flour sacks for her nine children by the light of a coal oil lamp while daddy read to us from the family bible. We had no vaccines and caught and survived all the usual childhood diseases and my mother lived to see all nine of her children reach adulthood with me being her youngest. Most of us are gone now I have only three brothers left who are great grand father’s still living and I’m the last female. But I know my grandparents and my parents would be proud of the small Nation that they started, we have doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, blacksmiths and military both active and retired veterans to veterinarians and CPA to semi drivers all came from them that have traveled the world and we live with faith in God without fear of what is or will be.

  • Margie Nieuwkerk

    Prepper Princess – here are some additional tips that may be shocking but will stand people in good stead later:
    I grew up in Europe shortly after the war, times were very tough. When you are hungry, it doesn’t matter that flour or oats or cereal or a package of something is old and stale, you are so happy to have it and eat it. Flour can get lumpy, just put it through a sieve and it becomes floury again and will still bake just fine. Oats and flour CAN get moths and meal worms, likewise, those got sifted out, one would NEVER throw that flour away. Regarding canned goods, possibly stuff CAN taste tinny, but you would still be very VERY happy to have a tin of beans or tomatoes when there is hardly any food around.

    Now, there is something I would like to point out, here where I live in Europe, many many cans now have the flip top lids. These are not as good. I have noticed with fish tins that around the “score line” there is a bit of rust forming, which means to me the cans are leaking and possibly oxygen is getting into the cans, and this is even BEFORE the best by date, so if you buy canned goods, try to get the non flip top kind.

    With regard to vegetable oil, I bought a lot of sunflower oil back in 2013 and 15, and am still using, it is not rancid, it does have a very faint oily smell compared to new bottles, but I test these things to make sure. And in case of famine, go for it, you will be happy. Also with products like oil, rather than buying a big bottle, I find it safer to buy numerous smaller ones, in case one goes bad or something happens to it, you still got some on stand by.

    Also depending on how many are in your family, sometimes getting smaller jars or cans of stuff that can go off is a better option. I live on my own, and found the larger cans/jars, I wouldn’t be able to eat fast and often I would have to throw stuff in the compost pile because I didn’t eat fast enough. so smaller pots better. like mayo and stuff. Also when you are canning, take this into consideration, sometimes it’s better to can in smaller portions.

    Thank you Prepper princess for all your information!

    • Laurie N

      Very helpful information… thanks

    • Bri A

      Slide some bay leaves into the flour, oats, cereal, rice, beans, and something it in keeps bugs away and prevents hatching of what may already be in there. I like to freeze flour, oatmeal, rice. But I understand freezing dried beans is not a good idea. Try the bay leaves and see if that doesn’t help. (buy the bay leaves loose at an ethnic store and they will not be expensive, and they will be “good”).

  • Bruce Forster

    Princess; 34 Years ago, I fell on a terrible period of hard times. I ended up living in a car for Two Years. I experienced firsthand, unemployment, loneliness, cold and hunger. Last week my wife and I celebrated our 32nd Wedding Anniversary. I’m not into sharing details about my prepping, but DO want to share this your subscribers:
    We keep VERY LITTLE refrigerated and frozen food, because if there ever is an extended grid down event, our losses here will be minimized. We keep primarily canned and some freeze-dried foods on hand. We have a Butane powered Camp Stove with FIFTY extra fuel cans for it. This allows us to have hot meals off-grid for up to a full year.We heat our home with kerosene; Also an off-grid feature of our home. Room lighting, phones, home entertainment and Ham Communications are from Solar.
    Our house IS on the grid, but we only use commercial power for the Laundry, Water Heater & the fridge. EVERYTHING else is backed by Solar-even on the North Oregon Coast, Solar DOES help!

  • SW Comment

    I was the middle of five children and we never had enough. We didn’t have enough food we didn’t have enough clothes we had cardboard in the bottom of our shoes if there was a hole. So after grocery shopping my mother would allocate the one package of cookies she had purchased to each child. So you have a plastic bag that had maybe 20 cookies for the week. So we would have two cookies for our lunches during the school year and two cookies for before going to bed. But we would all lick our cookies so that nobody would steal them. We had the same thing with fruit. You got your weekly allocation so my mother might buy peaches and plums in the summer because we always got what was ever seasonal. I like peaches so I would get two peaches and one plum. My sister loved plums so she would get two plums and one peach and I would always trade her I felt like I got the better deal because a peach is so much bigger than a plum. It was the same with milk ….bread…. I grew up poor. Thank God for potatoes. We didn’t have soda or potato chips. My mother would buy the small cans of fruit juice and when the orange juice got low in the pitcher she would add the pineapple juice from a can of pineapples so we would be drinking orange pineapple juice. But mom was a child of the depression so we had a lot of creative food solutions and I’m really glad for the lesson.

    • Ann Raybon

      and now people are saying children are starving if they dont get overfed. Nowadays your parents would have been arrested for abuse.

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